Landslide collapses building in China, casualties unknown

BEIJING: A landslide collapsed and buried buildings at and around an industrial park in the southern city of Shenzhen on Sunday, with the number of casualties unknown, state media reported.

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State broadcaster CCTV said that four people have been rescued and that most had been evacuated ahead of the landslide in the northwestern outskirts of the city.

Shenzhen’s fire brigade said in an online statement that one building had collapsed, but that the landslide had affected a large area.

CCTV said there was a residential area next to the zone. It said 17 buildings had been buried, including two workers’ dormitories.

Ren Jiguang, the deputy chief of Shenzhen public security bureau, told CCTV that most people had been moved to safety before the landslide hit, but they could not be sure no one had been buried. He said more than 600 rescuers were on scene.

The Beijing Youth Daily, citing a local resident, reported that the soil that had slid down onto the area had been dug up in the past two years in construction work and piled up against a 100-meter-high hill.

A woman who answered the phone at the fire brigade in Guangming New District confirmed the noon incident, but said she had no other information.

State media carried photos of what looked like at least one five-story building leaning over and partly crumpled.